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Mystery Publishers

Felony & MayhemThis publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.

Merion PressThe Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.

Mystery GuildThis book club mostly publishes current thrillers, spy and horror stories, etc., but has a few "lost classics" by the likes of Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr. As such, it may be worth your attention. Be warned though that it's a "negative option" club - if you join, you have to reply to each offer every few weeks to keep them from being sent to you.

Crippen & LandruCrippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.

Poisoned Pen PressBased in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

Academy Chicago PublishersA number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.

Langtail PressA fairly new Print On Demand publisher specializing mostly in classic mysteries. The managing director, James Prichard is the great-grandson of Agatha Christie, and his lineage shows. Authors include John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, Anthony Berkeley, and Freeman Wills Crofts, among others. Many are also published as ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.

Mysterious PressThe brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.

Ostara Publishing"Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."

Locked Room InternationalA small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.

Oleander PressThis small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.

Oconee Spirit PressA small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.

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That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site or the search box on my page, I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else... Thank you.

February 03, 2014

"The Girl in the Cellar"

The young woman standing on the cold stone step had no idea who she was, or where she was. The other young woman, the one at the bottom of the stairs, was dead - murdered. And the young woman on the stairs was trapped in a nightmare world of amnesia. She needed help, and she needed it badly. Fortunately for her...there was Miss Silver.

That 's the situation we face at the very start of Patricia Wentworth's last novel, The Girl in the Cellar, which is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, which you can hear in its entirety by clicking here.

The Girl in the Cellar was published in 1961, the year Patricia Wentworth died, and it is the last of some 32 books to feature Miss Maud Silver, the private enquiry agent whose little-old-lady appearance can be dangerously deceptive to evildoers. Miss Silver began life as a governess, bringing up other people's children. When she retired and became a private investigator, she brought her no-nonsense attitude with her.

I have read a fair number of the Miss Sliver mysteries, and I think The Girl in the Cellar is one of the better ones. Its dramatic opening is remarkably powerful: we are introduced to this young woman standing on the basement steps in a house that may or may not be deserted. She is suffering from amnesia - she cannot even remember her own name, or where she is, or what she is doing there. She only knows that there is the dead body of another woman at the bottom of the steps.

She manages to get out of the house, and she gets onto the first bus passing by. And that's where her luck begins to change, because she runs into Miss Silver, who sees that the young woman obviously is suffering from shock and needs help.

It will take quite a while before the young woman is able to remember who she is and start to make sense out of the things going on around her. And, as that knowledge comes back to her, she will also realize that knowledge can be a very dangerous thing...

A lot of the Miss Silver books strike me as being fairly formulaic - you have the same character-types in book after book. There is usually a Damsel in Distress, there's a Misunderstood Young Man, there are Friends/Relatives Who Should Know Better, and so forth. In this case, however, the peril facing the heroine is pretty unique, and Wentworth really does a fine job in showing us the helpless terror that burdens the amnesia victim. It's not so much a whodunit - it's pretty clear most of the way through the book who the villain is - but the true relationships among the characters, and the identity of the girl in the cellar - of both girls in the cellar - are well concealed and allowed to play out suspensefully. And Miss Silver is a delight, as always.

The Girl in the Cellar is another entry in the Vintage Mystery Challenge under way at the My Reader's Block blog. As it was published after 1960, I am intering in in the Silver category, "a book by an author you've read before."

Comments

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Les - Interesting you'd mention the similarities among the Maude Silver mysteries. They're definitely there and yet Wentworth managed to distinguish them enough (at least, the ones I've read) that they're worth reading. And she was good at introducing that sinister tone to a story.

"She looked into the dead unbroken dark and had neither memory nor thought." That's the opening sentence of the book, Margot. If readers aren't hooked by that (or the rest of a truly outstanding first paragraph, which I read in the podcast), then I don't know what WOULD catch them. Sinister tone? OH yeah!

Les: I love Miss Silver--but you are right she's a bit formulaic. I tend to take her in small doses so I don't get tired of her. And....this is the second book that you've read for the challenge that I have waiting for me on my TBR pile. :-)

Bev, I think this is one of the better Miss Silver books - the situation is different and there's more tension in the plight of the amnesiac. I'd suggest you move it up the pile... ;-) I'm enjoying this challenge, trying to fit books into the appropriate categories.

Glad you're enjoying it, Les. I really had a great time with the Bingo-style one I found last year (even though it mesmerized me into reading a whole bunch of new-release stuff that I normally wouldn't have spent time on). I knew I just had to find a way to make it work for the Vintage Challenge. :-)